Pipe bursts in McCrary Music Building

Siegrid Massie | Broadcast Reporter

Police were called to help assist at the McCrary Music Building Monday afternoon, February 15th after the building began to flood.

Although classes were canceled that day, dozens of students and several faculty members happened to be in the building when water started pouring out of the ceiling and quickly leaped into action.

The classrooms, computers and the concert hall were all at risk to be damaged. However, it was over $500,000 worth of instruments that had students rushing to see if their instrument had been affected by the flood.

Dr. Jacobson, Associate Dean of Operations for the Baylor School of Music, was not there when the water pipe initially broke but says he’s grateful for the quick-thinking of those who rushed to save the instruments.

“It could have been a lot worse, particularly if there wasn’t anyone around, and if the water had been running all night on Monday I don’t even want to think about what might have happened,” Jacobson said.

The building did sustain some damage to the ceiling tiles and hundreds of feet of conduit hang from the ceiling to help dry the walls and regulate humidity. The quick work of the faculty and students in the building at the time made it so they were able to safely move all the instruments in time to ensure there was no permanent damage.

“There were a few things that got a little wet but not to the point that they couldn’t be wiped off. There was absolutely no damage to any instruments,” Jacobson said.

Jacobson says classes are able to fully function while the facility is under repair but is excited for it to resume normal operation.